Branding Colorado's Green Energy Cluster

This year has seen a wave of positive developments for the green energy sector in Colorado, from the ConocoPhillips purchase of the former Storage Technology site to to the massive $130 million venture capital funding of Broomfield-based biofuel company Range Fuels.

The time is now ripe for regional boosters, civic organizations and clean energy trade groups in Colorado to come up with a memorable nickname for the alternative energy cluster in the region to help brand this sector's presence in Colorado in the same way that "Silicon Valley" represents the technology sector in the San Jose/San Francisco corridor. Giving the sector a concrete, memorable identity will help plant the idea in the public consciousness that Colorado is the place to be for green entrepreneurs, investors and workers, and serve as a rallying cry to help recruit employers and complementary economic entities to the area. This branding action will serve as a preemptive strike against other metro areas who are fiercely competing for similar jobs and investments. Once the nickname is established, a focused public relations and advertising campaign should be used to create brand awareness.

A short, simple, catchy, relevant, two to three word nickname is required. To get the ball rolling here are some suggested components for the name.

Possible alternatives for the first part of the phrase:

• green
  
• renewable
  
• alternative
• clean
• sustainable
  

Possible alternatives for the second part of the phrase:

• prairie
  
• plains
  
• foothills
  
• mountains
• range
• slope
  

The alternative that sounds best to me is "The Renewable Range." I like the meaning, the catchiness of the "double r" alliteration and the implied geographical references to "the Front Range," the well known term for the most populous part of Colorado on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.

I am wondering what others think? Please send your suggestions and comments.

A String of Positive Job Announcements Concentrated in the Energy Sector

The core function and primary concern of economic development is attracting jobs, investments, corporate operations and head offices to a region. Over the past several weeks, since the ConocoPhillips announcement, the Denver region has had an excellent string of successes in this area.

Many of the incoming jobs are in the energy or alternative energy sectors which appear poised for substantial future economic growth. RES-Americas, a wind energy company is relocating its headquarters to Broomfield from Austin, Texas. Its notable that, like the ConocoPhillips decision, this relocation did not require state economic development incentives to occur. Instead it appears to be based on the region's emerging status as a green energy cluster.

An executive at wind-turbine manufacturer Vestas said that the Front Range of Colorado is one of the finalist locations for siting a research and development hub. Vestas, of course, recently opened a turbine manufacturing plant in Windsor, Colorado. Littleton-based Ascent Solar Technologies will be expanding its production capacity with an injection of capital from Norwegian aluminum giant, Norsk Hydro ASA. AVA Solar, which makes thin film photovoltaic technology, recently decided to site its first manufacturing plant in Longmont.

Berry Petroleum, a traditional oil company, announced it is relocating its corporate headquarters to Denver from Bakersfield, California. Gas and oil companies continue to have a huge presence in the Colorado economy. According to a recently released study sponsored by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association titled Real Estate Market Impacts of Oil and Gas Industry in Metro Denver:

• 1,1519 oil and gas firms occupy almost 11 million square feet of metro area real estate.
  
• The market value of this property is $483 million with annual rents of $171 million.
• Almost $26 million in annual local tax revenue is generated by these operations.
  
• At least 26,000 workers are employed in the oil and gas sector.
  

However, thankfully, since the 1980s, the Denver regional economy has diversified into other areas in addition to energy, oil and gas. In the financial services sector, Charles Schwab is planning to bring about 500 new jobs to Denver from its headquarters in San Francisco and its operations in Phoenix.

It will be interesting to see if the Metro Denver Economy is able to continue this string of success in coming months in spite of the current overall U.S. economic downturn.